Carbon Costing

Our entire global economy is flawed. Quite a grandios statement that, eh? But think about it, what is the measure of value in society? Money. But what are some of the things you value? Love, friendship, family? A car, a TV, a mobile phone? Clean air, enough water to drink? For the birds to come back each spring? For there to be fish in the ocean? Except for the car, TV, and phone, all of those things are invaluable… their value cannot be calculated. But to the ‘economic system’ of the world, they cannot be valued monetarily, and so they are of no consequence in the formulas by which society makes decisions, either collectively or often individually.

And we are undermining all of the above (save car, TV, and phone) by our pursuit of some fleeting western notion of happiness and success as the possession of materials. Why is that? How can that be? It is precisely because the entire global economic system has this massive flaw.

So what can be done about it? Essentially, we as individuals, followed by societies at large, need to add into the equation the cost to the global ecology of the excess tons of greenhouse gasses which we release as part of the ‘cost of doing business’. Until this happens, and happen eventually it must if we are to survive on this planet as a species, we each need to begin to consider the carbon footprint of our lives and decisions.

In line with the K.I.S.S. Principal of Blogging, which I just invented, standing for Keep It Small and Simple, let me step gently into the next post… Reducing Your Carbon Footprint.